Question on the USSR

Hello Andy,
My question is how was it in the daily life of a average "Iosef" in the Soviet Union. A Factory worker, perhaps. With a wife, 2 children. How did he feel about his work, family and his country? From when he woke until he went to bed, what was his day like? What did he like and dislike through the course of his day?
Thank You
Gregory

Moved from the Intro Forum - Che Burashka

you're asking for a generalization, which is a profile. Obviously each situation will chage, the factory manager during the revolution was obviously pissed off that either he would be shot or take part in manual labor. Those in Labor camps were obviously pissed off that they were in prison.

You also have to give a time frame you are looking for, the soviet union developed from an agricultural state, to an industrial state to a corrupt workers state within a very short period of time.

To be honest, your question kinda sucks, you are asking us to tell you how millions of people felt during a certain period.

It's not a terrible question.

It does depend, however, what time period you are asking about. If it is around the 70's the average soviet worker would have been:
-Calm and relaxed. The state insured that no one would go homeless, unemployed or hungry. They will always live with this fact, which contributed to the much lower rate of suicide and stress related disorders and diseases.
-Proud. The people of the USSR knew that they were living in the greatest country on Earth. They had a similiar arrogance that Americans have today.
-Disappointed by shortages and a lack of many commerical goods. They accepted this as a necessity to defeat the capitalists, just as Americans today accept repressed freedoms and increased military spending to defeat terrorists.

Anything else?

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It does depend, however, what time period you are asking about. If it is around the 70's the average soviet worker would have been:
-Calm and relaxed. The state insured that no one would go homeless, unemployed or hungry. They will always live with this fact, which contributed to the much lower rate of suicide and stress related disorders and diseases.
-Proud. The people of the USSR knew that they were living in the greatest country on Earth. They had a similiar arrogance that Americans have today.
-Disappointed by shortages and a lack of many commerical goods. They accepted this as a necessity to defeat the capitalists, just as Americans today accept repressed freedoms and increased military spending to defeat terrorists.

-Protesting
-Being repressed
-Turning to alcohol after suffering alienation under the capitalist state the USSR was in the 70s

If it's the 80's they might be pretty pissed off about the Afghan War. Especially if they lost a family member in the war.

Quote:

-Proud. The people of the USSR knew that they were living in the greatest country on Earth. They had a similiar arrogance that Americans have today.

They had a similar feeling did they?

Quote:

They had a similar feeling did they?

Yeah even my uncle who is the greatest supporter of America, willfully admits that he was living in the greatest country of the world, its important to note that he lived the perestroika years as a young man, were the soviet union was a modern state waiting to disassembled in the later years by the man with the world map on his forehead

America manufactured their ICBMs in a span of 40 years from 1945-1885. It took the Soviet Union 2 5-Year Plans to equal their number. The Soviet Union was also able to equal the number of tractors and harvesters which America was able to produce in 100 years. It took the USSR 1 5-Year Plan to equal their numbers. No wonder communism or socialism still lingers in the hearts and minds of the old apparatchiks together with their sons and daughters!

It's not just apparatchiks. Actually, the biggest support for socialism is in the disadvantaged groups in the former communist bloc. Old ladies living on 100 Euro pension a month, unemployed people etc. There is a lot of nostalgia among average people as well.